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NLRB Considering Rulemaking to Address Joint-Employer Standard

Washington, DC — The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs today published the National Labor Relations Board’s submission that the Board is considering rulemaking to address the standard for determining joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act. The submission, prepared at the request of the Chairman, is included in the Agency’s filing in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (click here).

“Whether one business is the joint employer of another business’s employees is one of the most critical issues in labor law today,” says NLRB Chairman John F. Ring. “The current uncertainty over the standard to be applied in determining joint-employer status under the Act undermines employers’ willingness to create jobs and expand business opportunities. In my view, notice-and-comment rulemaking offers the best vehicle to fully consider all views on what the standard ought to be. I am committed to working with my colleagues to issue a proposed rule as soon as possible, and I look forward to hearing from all interested parties on this important issue that affects millions of Americans in virtually every sector of the economy.”

The NLRB has begun the internal process necessary to consider rulemaking on the joint-employer standard. The inclusion of the proposal in the regulatory agenda does not reflect the participation of Board Members Pearce and McFerran. Any proposed rule would require approval by a majority of the five-member Board, and the next step would be the issuance of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employers and employees from unfair labor practices, and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year.